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NFL adjustment likely to end TV blackouts for Jaguars

NFL decision reduces number of tickets to be sold, but revenue sharing is catch

An adjustment to the NFL’s blackout rule is likely to make TV blackouts a thing of the past for the Jaguars.

But the team faces a dilemma on how to avoid blackouts without sharing more money with opposing teams.

Team owners recently passed a resolution allowing teams the option of allowing local telecasts even if as few as 85 percent of the non-premium tickets are sold.

That means the Jaguars, who currently have to sell almost 51,000 general bowl or non-premium tickets to avoid a blackout, could lower their blackout number to about 43,400 general bowl non-premium tickets. But there is a catch.

If a team sells more tickets than a lower blackout number, it will have to share the revenue on the tickets sold above that number with the league on a 50-50 basis. Teams currently keep 66 percent of the non-premium ticket revenue. For example, if a team set the blackout number at 90 percent of the non-premium tickets available and sold all of them, it would have to share 50-50 the value of the extra 10 percent of tickets.

On the other hand, if the Jaguars don’t lower it enough, they would have to write a check for 34 percent of the unsold tickets to avoid a blackout.

The task for the Jaguars is to figure the right number to avoid having to share more money with other teams and avoid paying the 34 percent fee to avoid blackouts.

“We are discussing the matter and have to make a decision by mid-July,” team spokesman Dan Edwards said.

The Jaguars might not go as low as 85 percent, but picking the ideal number might not be easy.

Of course, the best solution for the Jaguars is to sell all their non-premium seats so they don’t have to worry about blackouts.

Under a new policy this year, the Jaguars aren’t announcing the number of their ticket sales except to say they are above last year’s pace.

Mark Lamping, the team’s president of non-football operations, said the Jaguars hope to end the blackout conversation in Jacksonville, adding that the team is focused on long-term results rather than frequent updates.

The Jaguars haven’t blacked out a game in the past two seasons, but they’ve rarely had sellouts.

This is the first change in the blackout rules since 1973, when Congress passed a resolution calling for games to be televised locally if the game was sold out 72 hours before kickoff. The law has long since expired, but the NFL has kept the rule and has not included premium seats, including club seats and luxury box seats, in the blackout number.

Last season, the league had a total of 16 games blacked out by four teams: the Bengals (six), Buccaneers (five), Bills (three) and Chargers (two).